Omicron Variant: Canada Issues Travel Ban On Nigeria, Others

The Canadian government has added Nigeria to the list of countries banned from entering into the country in a bid to halt the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

This was made known in a statement posted on the country’s official website. Other countries affected by the travel ban include South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and Egypt.

Canadian Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra, has said foreign nationals who had been to these countries in the previous 14 days would be temporarily banned from entering Canada.

Alghabra added that Canadians and permanent residents who have been in the 10 countries, even those who are fully vaccinated, must also be tested before entering Canada.

This comes as the Nigeria Center for Disease and Control (NCDC) announced that two cases of Omicron variant had been detected in the country.

“We are adding three countries to the list of these countries that we talked about last Friday, these are Malawi, Egypt and Nigeria,”

Canadian Health Minister, Jean-Yves Duclos was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

Duclos added that all travellers coming from outside Canada, apart from the United States, would now be tested at Canadian airports for the novel coronavirus disease, regardless of vaccination status.

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This also came after the World Health Organization on Tuesday called for countries to keep calm and take “rational” measures in response to the new COVID variant, Omicron.

“We call on all member states to take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures,”

WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a briefing to countries, Al Jazeera reports.